2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray is tested at Nürburgring

As the world’s 4th largest car brand, selling 5 million cars and trucks in more than 140 countries, it should come as no surprise when we saw Chevrolet testing the all-new 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray on the Nürburgring racetrack. If you aren’t familiar, the Nürburgring track is considered to be the most demanding and difficult purpose-built racing circuits in the world. The North Loop is 12.8 miles long and has more than 1,000 feet of elevation change throughout the course. As part of the GM standard quality control program, a series of extensive tests were conducted for the all-new 2014 C7.

"Nürburgring is renowned for its demanding race track and it is perfectly suited for our purpose, which is to fine-tune the ride and handling characteristics of the European Corvette Stingray," Jim Mero, vehicle dynamics engineer at General Motors, said. "We are paying particular attention to the suspension set-up and the steering at Nürburgring. European roads are quite distinct and different from those in the U.S., and so are driving habits."

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If the all-new 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray is capable of handling the course at Nürburgring, it’s more than up to the challenge and abuses as a daily commuter or occasional track car; essentially handling anything you can throw at it. Powered by a 450 hp LT1 6.2L, the car is just as quick to impress in the 1320, literally. The all-new C7 (automatic) knocked off a bottom 12-sec pass at over 120mph. If you don’t believe us, just check out the video we’ve included. Of course, the real surprise is it accomplished this in bone stock trim. But don’t let its 12-sec quarter-mile passes fool you. This new breed of Vette features stellar fuel mileage numbers for both 17 city and 29 highway in the 6-speed automatic or 7-speed manual version; making it the perfect boulevard bruiser.

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Most noteworthy is the all-new frame of the 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray. The car was built with a lighter, stronger aluminum frame; 99 pounds lighter and 57-percent stiffer than the previous models. Need more proof? We’ve made sure to include this image of the all-new 2014 C7 in full huck-mode. What other 12-sec factory car can hang all four tires to the wind?